TLDT c07s01
Text Twilight Sparkle smiled faintly as she stepped hesitantly into Fluttershy's room at the hospital, knocking once on the door, and Rainbow Dash glanced up from where the blue Pegasus was sitting at her bedside. She smiled faintly, studying Twilight for a moment before nodding to her and saying quietly: "Hey, I was just about to come and get... where's Scrivener? Fluttershy's been asking for him." "Has she?" Twilight cocked her head curiously, then she softened as she gazed towards the blonde Pegasus: she was bruised and battered, her coat more purple and red and black than it was golden from the savage beating she had taken. Bandages covered her, and her pretty mane had been unevenly cut back: both because they had been forced to do an operation to relieve a pressure buildup in her brain, and because whoever had done this had sliced off much of her pink locks. Machines beeped on the other side of the bed, monitoring how she was, and tubes stuck out from beneath the sheets that covered her, feeding into bags hanging off metal stands and other strange machinery. The violet mare slowly shook her head as her features darkened, looking at the Pegasus as she murmured: "Poor Fluttershy... are there any leads on who did this?" "None at all." Rainbow sighed and shook her own head, then she hesitated before prompting almost apprehensively: "Scrivener..." "Oh. Sorry, I just... seeing her... like this..." Twilight silently reached out, pulling the blankets up a bit as she shivered a little, then she glanced over at Rainbow Dash and answered quietly: "Scrivy is going to come by in the afternoon. He wanted to come by with me now, but I had to remind him that he had an appointment with Dr. Duck to go to. So I thought I'd... come by here now, get Scrivener's prescription filled at the pharmacy, and then meet him for lunch. Then he'll be by in the afternoon." "Good. Fluttershy will be glad to see him." Rainbow looked at the pony laying in bed quietly, and then the blue Pegasus sighed a bit before turning her eyes to Twilight, saying hesitantly: "You and him... you're good for each other, yeah? He doesn't..." "He's what I want... and what I need." Twilight smiled a little glancing over at Rainbow softly before she shook her head slowly. "Don't worry about me, okay? Besides, Fluttershy... needs our help right now. Everything else can wait." Rainbow Dash nodded slowly, shaking her head before she sighed and cracked her back, muttering: "Yeah, you're right, and... Scrivener's a good guy. And you're a good friend too, Twilight. I'm glad Fluttershy has you both looking helping me to look out for her." The unicorn nodded, and then the blue Pegasus smiled a bit, saying finally: "If you don't mind, I'm gonna go home, get a shower, and catch a nap. Been here most of the night and morning... and if you don't mind, I think I'll come back in the afternoon, too. See what the whole fuss is about... maybe what Fluttershy has to tell Scrivy will open up some memories or something about what really happened." "Yeah." Twilight said finally, and then she shook her head slowly before finally smiling a little, glancing over at Dash and saying quietly: "I'm sorry if I've... ever been short with you or anyone else or... clingy... to Scrivy. If I've ever... made you guys uncomfortable. I just... you know." "It's okay, Twilight." Rainbow Dash smiled a little, looking strangely relieved before she nodded and headed for the door, saying softly: "Be gentle with her if she wakes up, huh? She's been... really scared. More than usual I mean, but I guess that's... that's understandable, isn't it?" Rainbow closed her eyes, then she shook her head and turned, heading out the door as Twilight gazed after her softly before the violet mare turned her eyes back to the Pegasus laying in the hospital bed. This room felt so small, so desolate, with only the beep of machinery and the poor, wounded pony laying in bed... and Twilight sighed softly as she reached out and touched her shoulder silently, closing her eyes and bowing her head forwards as she whispered: "It's going to be okay, Fluttershy. Okay? I promise you that it's going to be okay, and this will all be over soon. I... I hope you can hear me. I hope you believe me. I hope... I hope you know we're all trying our hardest to make things better. To fix things." She fell quiet, then looked down and studied her friend's face before hesitating... and finally smiling a little, reaching into her satchel bag at her side to pull out a notebook and quill. She jotted a short, quick message, and folded it so it could stand and face the Pegasus so she would know who had been here before finally getting to her hooves. She hesitated a moment longer... then simply shook her head and murmured quietly: "No, better to let you sleep through this. It'll be okay, Fluttershy. I promise." With that, the unicorn turned and headed out into the hospital corridor, passing a few nurses as she glanced at her satchel and made her way towards the exit. The hospital was slowing down as lunch arrived, patients who were well enough for it and doctors both making their way down to the cafeterias, others returning to rooms and offices. A few still patrolled the halls, but none of them thought anything was out of the ordinary even as a pony with a painted face and a red-and-black jester's costume carefully pushed a large wooden cart down the hall. The cart was painted with smiling faces and happy animals, and a bunch of balloons were tied to it, of every color, all large and rotund. The pony paused as she passed a mother and a young foal who were making their way out of another patient's room, and the clown smiled as she pulled a balloon free from the cart, leaning over and saying gently: "Here, sweetie. Smile, you'll feel better." The foal smiled brightly up at the clown, who winked and flicked her head, making the bells of her jester's cap jangle. Her ivory-painted features returned the smile, exaggerated by her black lipstick and obsidian eyeliner, and then she giggled a little as she went back to pushing her cart forwards, humming a little under her breath before halting at the door to Fluttershy's room. She reached out and pushed it slowly open, then smiled and swiveled the cart to carefully push inside, balloons gently scraping against the top frame of the door as she called kindly: "Wakey-wakey, honey! Someone saw this room looked boring, so they sent a little something to spruce it up, sweetie..." The clown pranced forwards as Fluttershy stirred weakly in bed, eyes slowly opening... and then staring in horror, beginning to tremble violently as the clown untethered the bunch of balloons and strode calmly forwards, her eyes half-lidded, her smile predatory. Fluttershy shook her head wildly, and the clown giggled quietly before she leaned forwards and easily swept the call button away from Fluttershy's hoof, whispering around the strings in her mouth: "Oh, no. Come on, sweetie, we haven't even decorated your room yet..." With that, the clown began to tie the balloons, one-by-one, to Fluttershy's headboard. She tied them slowly, Fluttershy spasming on the bed, eyes rolling in fear as she tried to gargle out something, anything, but the clown only giggled as she pulled the strings tight, tied the balloons so they floated low and ominous only a foot or so above the Pegasus' head, as the clown whispered: "Now, we can't have you telling our little secret, can we? Thankfully the only pony who saw was the lunatic... and now, you'll never be able to make him see the truth. The truth dies with you, honey... he'll just go on thinking he's crazy, and eventually everyone will quietly accept that bad things happen to good ponies, and that's that. Everyone's happy!" The clown finished tying the balloons in a bright rainbow of colors that hovered low over Fluttershy before she straightened and headed back to her cart, smiling positively as she pulled a side door on it open. A moment later, the clown grunted and yanked out a large metal cylinder and an uninflated balloon, slipping this over a nozzle sticking out of the top of the large canister. She spun a valve, and the balloon quickly filled up, becoming round and large and strangely obscene as the clown pulled it away from the hissing nozzle, humming softly as she tied this easily off. The nozzle continued to spew its gases into the air, but the clown paid it no heed as she reached into the cart and pulled out a pre-cut line of string, knotting this around the bottom of the balloon and then smiling warmly as she easily tied it to the bottom of the bed. Fluttershy whimpered weakly as the balloon floated into the air, and the clown stepped back, letting the hissing canister fall with a terrible, loud clang before she booted it hard, sending it rolling under the Pegasus' bed. The terrified pony stared at the clown as the somehow-ghastly figure grinned at her, then turned and bounced cheerfully out of the room, leaving Fluttershy alone. The Pegasus shifted back and forth in bed, but she was too weak to get up, breathing hard in and out and trying to scream, but barely managing a loud rasp. She could hear the cylinder still hissing, still filling the air around her as the balloons all swayed slowly above... and then she twitched in horror and looked up as the clown bounced back into the room, chiding: "Sorry, silly me! I forgot something." With that, the clown reached into the cart she had left behind, then pulled out a silver lighter, winking at Fluttershy before she headed out of the room and began to close the door behind her. Then she glanced up in surprise as a nurse approached, the pony tilting her head and asking curiously: "Excuse me, but what are you doing?" "Oh, a friend of Fluttershy's hired me to set up a small surprise for her, that's all." The clown smiled and pushed the door open, showing off the balloons as the Pegasus on the bed twitched, then desperately tried to raise her head, to scream, to do something that would get the nurse's attention. "Isn't it lovely?" "Well, how nice! Fluttershy... Fluttershy, is something wrong?" The nurse approached quickly as the clown once more pulled the door mostly closed with a smile, then she flicked the lighter open in one hoof before clicking the wheel, and easily tossing it in through the door as she spun around on her heel and hopped down the hall. And she only grinned and continued to bounce easily forwards even as an explosion ripped through the air behind her, blowing the door off the hospital room as flames spread greedily up the wall and screams of agony and terror filled the air. Soon, they mixed with the fire alarm as ponies ran into the hall, panicking, the clown patiently making her way through the crowd with a bright smile on her face even as the sprinkler system began to wash away her makeup. Yet she was barely noticed, ponies all too busy trying to save themselves and find out what was going on as many rushed for the exits and others only added to the furor with their cries and rioting. Not long after the hospital fell into chaos, Twilight Sparkle was all-but-shoved out of the front doors of the hospital by the surging crowd, looking over her shoulder in anxiety the moment the crowd stopped pushing her along to spot smoke rising from the third floor. The floor Fluttershy was on, as she shook her head in denial and trembled a bit, before she flinched in surprise as Scrivener's voice shouted to her: "Twilight!" "Scrivy?" Twilight spun dumbly around as Scrivener pushed through the crowd towards her, and then the violet mare hurried to meet him halfway, the two colliding with each other as she hugged him fiercely. "I thought you were at your appointment..." "Yeah, we didn't need the full hour." Scrivener muttered, and then he grimaced and looked up at the hospital, asking: "What happened, do you know?" "N-No... I... I was on my way out and I heard the fire alarm go off..." Twilight shook her head hurriedly, looking up with fear at Scrivener. "It all happened so fast... I... but that's where Fluttershy..." "Oh no." Scrivener whispered, staring up at the window and shaking his head in denial. "But who... what would... why..." Twilight clung to him, burying her face against his neck, leaving wet smears over him as Scrivener hugged her fiercely and looked down at her silently. She was trembling, so scared that her eyes seemed darker, dripping with water from the sprinkler system as other ponies milled around and scared shouts rang up from the grounds around the hospital exterior. It was twenty minutes before the fire chief finally strode up in front of the building, saying curtly: "We've put out the fire, but it already looks like this arson. Two ponies have been killed... a nurse, and a patient who was in care on the third floor, and we won't be releasing their names. We'll need to speak to anyone who visited patient 307 short-" "No!" Twilight yelled almost desperately, and all eyes turned towards her before she fell against Scrivener, burying her face against his neck and beginning to sob as the earth pony held her tightly, squeezing her close. "F-F-Fluttershy..." An officer was hurrying towards them, and Scrivener looked up and motioned at the police pony to wait a moment. Then the charcoal stallion kissed Twilight's forehead before gently shushing her and leading her carefully forwards, the crowd whispering and staring at them as Scrivener said quietly to the officer as he passed: "You need to send messengers to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. They'll all want to know what happened. But Rainbow has been here constantly... she might know if anyone was lingering around the room." The officer nodded, and Scrivener turned his attention forwards, letting himself be led by a waiting firepony to a quieter area where a fire engine and several police wagons were sitting. As Twilight calmed down, officers and fireponies ran back and forth, largely avoiding each other as they argued over who should be doing what. Eventually, an investigator walked over to them, the aging Pegasus pony saying quietly: "I'm Detective Shield. You have my condolences for the loss of your friend... we think we figured out how... how this happened. We found the remains of a canister... we're fairly certainly it contained hydrogen. Someone snuck it in with what looked like a wooden cart, filled with party favors for kids... balloons, things like that. Whoever inspected it probably just assumed it was full of helium. "The hydrogen was allowed to fill the room, then ignited to set off the blast. Your friend... was killed instantly. The nurse was badly scorched, but... it was the shock and trauma that killed her." He fell silent, then looked quietly at Twilight Sparkle as reached up and rubbed a hoof through his pepper mane. "The logs show you left around the time of the explosion. Did you see anything, anything at all, that was suspicious?" Twilight trembled, shaking her head and looking down as she shifted a bit, leaning against Scrivener and whispering: "I just... I left her a note because she was asleep, after Rainbow Dash left... she... oh god, this is all my fault..." "No, no... no it's not." Scrivener said quietly, looking at the violet mare silently and reaching up to stroke slowly through her mane, and Twilight turned to bury her face against him, breathing hard before he frowned a bit and asked quietly: "Do you know if anypony else saw anything?" "We're checking the logs, but the cart was quickly identified by some of the staff. It was being pushed by a pony dressed as a clown, who likely slipped in under the pretense of handing out balloons at the children's ward or something." Shield shook his head slowly, then he looked up and said quietly: "This was clearly a targeted attack, not a random act of violence, especially with the fact the victim was earlier assaulted... and you... you're Scrivener Blooms, aren't you?" "That's right!" Twilight looked up suddenly, making both Scrivener and Shield look at her with surprise as she trembled, then said hurriedly: "R-Rainbow Dash said... Fluttershy wanted to tell you something! That..." She was cut off by a loud yell, and Shield and the other ponies all looked up to see a rainbow blur tear through the air, flying up towards the smoking, shattered window as other Pegasi pursued after the shape. It easily shook them off, however, leaping inside... and then there was a howl of pain and misery before Twilight clenched her eyes shut, and Scrivener lowered his head as the violet mare whispered: "Rainbow..." "Do you know what it was that Fluttershy wanted to tell Scrivener?" asked the Detective quickly, and when Twilight only shook her head, Shield nodded and sighed before he stepped back, the graying pony brushing back his long overcoat. "Then excuse me. I had better take this opportunity while I can to go and speak to your friend. I'll be back with her shortly." Scrivener and Twilight both nodded... and true to his word, the Detective returned with a trembling Rainbow Dash in tow, the blue mare shivering and breathing hard as she shook her head weakly. For a few moments, she looked across at Scrivener and Twilight... and then she stumbled around the table, and both ponies stepped forwards to hug her tightly, Rainbow Dash half-collapsing as she whispered: "I s-shouldn't've left..." "No, this isn't your fault... for all we know, whoever did this was waiting for you to leave... or you could be dead up there right now, too." Scrivener said quietly, as Twilight only clung to her friend. Rainbow looked up weakly, almost disbelievingly, and Scrivener smiled faintly as he trembled a bit and said quietly: "I've had... lots of practice losing people. In the real world and in my own head." The Pegasus closed her eyes, bowing her head forwards, as Detective Shield watched them silently for a few moments. Then the investigator finally cleared his throat, saying quietly: "I'm going to give you three some time. But tomorrow, I plan to come by and speak to each of you again, once we have more details on what's happened here." Scrivener nodded silently as Twilight and Rainbow Dash both only looked up weakly, and the investigator hesitantly nodded back before he turned and left, tossing one last apprehensive look over his shoulder at them. Scrivener shoved away his paranoia before it could rise up, instead turning his eyes back towards Rainbow Dash, asking quietly: "Did... what..." Rainbow trembled, then looked up at him and simply shook her head slowly, clenching her eyes shut as she whispered: "I can't... I... I can't... the... the smell. I'm never going to forget that smell, the sight, the... the... oh g-g-god..." The Pegasus shoved herself away, taking a few steps before she leaned over and retched a few times, and Scrivener closed his eyes as Twilight looked up with a tremble, asking weakly: "Did... was there... do you know..." Rainbow rasped for breath, shivering once before she slowly looked over her shoulder at them, tears spilling down her cheeks as she whispered: "All I know is that she wanted to talk to you, Scrivener. That she had something to tell you..." "It... it must have been about what she said at the bar. She was killed because she knew something..." Scrivener closed his eyes, trying to think, to add things together in his mind as he whispered: "About my home, about where I come from, something must be trying to-" "Goddammit, you're making this about you?" Rainbow shouted angrily, rounding on him suddenly as she glared at him with fury and despair. "No! You're insane! You're nothing but a goddamn crazy lunatic, and she got killed because she knew who hurt her, who was after her! They killed her to keep her quiet, not because you're some magic pony from a different goddamn dimension! And I don't know why she put her faith in you of all ponies, why she would only talk to you of all ponies, and n-not me, not her b-b-best friends, but a stupid piece of garbage scumbag n-nutjob who... w-who... Scrivener..." Rainbow stuttered out, choking on her own words, trembling violently as Scrivener quietly pushed Twilight away and looked silently over at the Pegasus... and then he closed his eyes and strode towards her, reaching up to simply hug her silently. For a moment, Rainbow snarled... but then it vanished into sobs as she buried her face against the side of Scrivener's neck and simply gave vent to her misery. The charcoal stallion held tightly onto her, breathing hard as he held her close, then whispered quietly: "Rainbow... I'm sorry." Rainbow only shook her head weakly, then she finally pulled away and rubbed furiously at her eyes, trembling before she looked up and rasped: "I don't care. I... I don't care what you believe, or what you think, or anything. But I do goddamn c-care about Fluttershy, and making sure that we... that we... don't let this go unpunished. Do... do you understand me? I... I need your help. P-Please..." "And we'll... we'll do this, together. We'll find the answer." Scrivener promised quietly, nodding slowly, and Rainbow nodded firmly back before she gritted her teeth and locked gazes with him. For a moment longer she was silent... and then she whispered through grit teeth, so quiet that not even Twilight could hear, and yet to Scrivener every word echoed through his mind: "And when we find the bastard who did this... you're going to help me m-m-make them suffer..." Scrivener closed his eyes, shivering once... and then his chestnut eyes simply flicked up, giving an almost tangible flash, and Rainbow grinned through her tears: and it was not a pleasant expression as she nodded slowly once. "Good." With that, Rainbow shook herself out and then threw herself into the air, flapping her wings hard and propelling herself skywards, and Scrivener trembled as he looked slowly up at the hospital before shaking his head quickly out, murmuring to Twilight weakly: "Come on. We... let's get out of here. I... I feel sick to my stomach." Twilight nodded slowly, breathing hard as she turned to follow him as they slowly made their way back to the library. By now, Scrivener thought, everypony in town knew what had happened... and it was no surprise when they found the library empty, but worried letters left for them all over the table. For the moment, however, Twilight ignored these as she turned her eyes to Scrivener, the two brushing themselves off as they sat on either side of the table before Twilight finally asked quietly: "Were you... Rainbow Dash, she asked you to..." "Yes." Scrivener said quietly, looking slowly up, and Twilight studied him before she simply nodded. And Scrivener smiled in faint surprise and almost bitter gladness, even as he asked: "You don't have a problem with the fact that... I..." "Not... in this case." Twilight slowly looked to the side, then she closed her eyes and trembled once before whispering: "Scrivener... you... you should teach me more about... that side of you. Just... because... I'm curious." Scrivener was silent, and Twilight turned her eyes to him, the two regarding one-another quietly before the earth pony said softly: "It's not something... most people want to know about. To learn about. It's not a fun subject, or an easy subject. It's... evil." "Maybe... I like the fact that you're a little evil." Twilight said quietly, studying him silently, and then she slowly walked around the table, looking down into his eyes before reaching her hooves up, grasping his shoulders tightly as she looked down at him, and he looked back up at her. She swallowed slowly, and Scrivener tilted his head a bit before she reached down and grasped one of his front hooves, guiding it to her chest, holding it there so he could feel the thud of her heart. "What will you do to the pony who did this?" "I don't know. I don't... want to know." Scrivener shivered and tried to look away, but Twilight quickly reached her free hoof up, catching his cheek, forcing him to look at her again as his other hoof remained held tightly against her breast. For a few moments, there was silence, and then he asked quietly: "Why are you so interested?" "I want to be more like you, puddin'. I want to be the best I can be for you... I want to share in all your hobbies... good and bad." Twilight replied quietly, then she slowly leaned forwards and whispered in his ear: "I want to share everything with you." Scrivener closed his eyes, feeling the beat of her heart as he heard the implications in her words, shivering a little bit before he murmured quietly: "You know, they say a masochist and a sadist is a match made in Heaven, assuming Heaven has a little bit of Hell in it." "Everything, and everyone, all have a little bit of Hell inside them." Twilight replied quietly, studying his features before he slowly stroked under his muzzle, smiling faintly as her heart thudded slowly, powerfully. "But maybe, if you look hard enough, you can find Heaven inside that Hell, too." "Pain is pleasure." Scrivener muttered, and then he shook his head and grimaced a bit, a shiver running down his spine as he looked up at her and said quietly: "Twilight... you don't have to do this. You... you don't want to do this." "I do." Twilight gave him a strange smile as she leaned forwards and touched a hoof to his chest, whispering: "Oh, you have no idea how much I do. After all, what could make us closer than sharing blood and nightmares and pain as well as pleasure and all these good things? Everything that's happened... everything that's taken place... all it goes to show is that bad things happen to good ponies all the time, that so much of the world's truth is primal hunger and random violence and lust and self-preservation... give me this, Scrivener. Make me your prey: be my hunter, and my protector. Take away the random chance that some pony is going to come and do violence to me by doing violence to me yourself..." "Your... that... that makes no sense..." Scrivener turned hurriedly away, flushing, before Twilight seized him almost painfully by the face, leaning forwards as she looked half-desperately, half-longingly down into his eyes. He gazed back, breathing hard in and out through his mouth before the violet mare leaned slowly down and kissed him, working her mouth against his, urging him to returning it before their lips parted and she leaned up to murmur into his ear: "Give it to me... give me pleasure, give me pain... and I'll make you forget about everything else for a little while..." Scrivener clenched his eyes shut, cursing weakly as he reached up to shove at her shoulders, but Twilight's eyes almost glowed as she pushed back roughly, insistently, making his blood boil, her words echoing through his mind as he felt awful, voracious hungers rising up through his body... and next thing he knew, he was standing in the bathroom, breathing hard as he stared into the mirror at his own pale features. He leaned forwards, hooves resting to either side of the reflective glass as a shiver rolled through him... and then he cursed under his breath weakly, shaking his head in denial before his eyes returned to his reflection. Then he twitched, his eyes widening in horror as the image of him in the mirror grinned eagerly out at him, eyes glowing like spotlights... The earth pony shoved himself hurriedly backwards, breathing hard and shaking his head out violently, trembling a bit before he looked back up at his reflection... and again, saw only his pale, paranoid features. He breathed slowly in and out before shivering and grabbing at his face, whispering: "What is going on... we just... I just... and Fluttershy's corpse isn't even cold yet..." "I'm just trying to find a way to cope." said a voice from behind him, and Scrivener looked over his shoulder with surprise to see Twilight Sparkle there, smiling faintly at him as she leaned in the bathroom doorway. Scrivener looked at her, and she gazed back at him before the violet mare closed her eyes and lowered her head forwards, whispering: "Maybe that's why I wanted you to hurt me, Scrivener. Because I needed that pain and that pleasure to wash away... all the thoughts about how I failed Fluttershy..." There was silence for a few moments... and then Scrivener finally nodded slowly before the unicorn shook her head with a shiver. "But... but you're right. I... I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry. We're... we're good for each other, but we're bad for each other too, aren't we? We influence each other's... darkness, as well as keep each other... balanced." She shivered a bit, then laughed faintly and slowly looked up, whispering: "I warned you that I was a bad pony too." Scrivener only shook his head at this, however, closing his eyes and murmuring: "You're not a bad pony, Twilight, and... and you don't have bad instincts. It's just... everything that's happening, maybe, all these different emotions that are running rampant all at once... it's... we're all just trying to find our ways to deal with it." Twilight nodded a little, then she sighed softly and turned around, and Scrivener watched her leave before he shook his head. He washed his face and tried to calm himself down, then joined Twilight a few minutes later in the main room, smiling faintly over at her as he asked quietly: "How are you feeling?" "Pretty awful. And..." Twilight blushed, looking down and silently rubbing a hoof over her body as she whispered: "You know. Other things, too. I don't know why, but... I... well... no, we just need to focus on other things. Rainbow would be so mad at us if she knew, and... so would everyone else. And they'd have every right to be, too..." "Twilight..." Scrivener said softly, and then he sighed and shook his head out a bit, smiling faintly at her as he strode over to sit quietly at the table with her. They only looked at each other, and then the charcoal stallion bowed his head to her quietly, saying finally: "We'll get through this... okay?" The violet mare smiled faintly at him, nodding slowly in return as she looked at him trustingly, almost naively... and yet Scrivener thought there was something else in her eyes, too. Something deeper, darker, and that sent a chill along his spine; something that made her devotion to him seem not like a blessing, but more like a warning of a worsening storm. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story